The right wing has been fond of calling this "Obama's Katrina" but I get the impression this is America's Chernobyl.

One thing's for sure...I bet if the CEO's of the responsible companies were arrested and rotting in a jail cell the process of stopping the leak might be stepped up a little, particularly if the judges ruled them all flight risks and refused bail.

This is criminal negligence.

_________________________
"For the primitive mind, myth must explain everything, or it explains nothing."

This thing has now been going on for some time and it just gets more and more interesting. For instance, Halliburton, of Iraq fame, was responsible evidently, for blowing up the rig (they were in charge of 'cementing' which was being done when it blew up).

Haliburton and its ilk, having bought the right-wing government of Alberta, is now riding rough-shod over the northern regions of the province, where the oil-sands are.

One wonders what horrors await the gullible population of hicks who imagine that they are enjoying the benefits of Free Enterprise.

_________________________The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools -- Herbert Spencer

The right wing has been fond of calling this "Obama's Katrina" but I get the impression this is America's Chernobyl.

One thing's for sure...I bet if the CEO's of the responsible companies were arrested and rotting in a jail cell the process of stopping the leak might be stepped up a little, particularly if the judges ruled them all flight risks and refused bail.

This is criminal negligence.

Peasant! How dare you threaten your betters! Off to the Bastille with you!

Hmmm... Perhaps a little public outing to the Bastille wouldn't be such a bad idea! · · ·

_________________________The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools -- Herbert Spencer

The White House and media forced BP to release this video of the "spill." That ain't no spill, that's a gusher.

This morning, I heard a news report on National Public Radio that the spill may be as much as ten times greater in volume than they have been letting on up till now. · · · · · ·

If I recall correctly, one of the folks NPR cited was claiming that there was already 20 million to 80 million gallons of spilled oil from the well. That is quite a hedge, huh?:-) Some it may be evaporating, sinking to the bottom, or forming oil slicks on the surface.

Personally, I don't think anyone yet knows the magnitude of the continuing spill.FYI

Quote:

That would leave as much as 2.7 million gallons at sea as of Friday, with about 210,000 gallons coming up from the well every day.

Merv Fingas, who has studied oil spills for 35 years and has worked for Environment Canada, that nation's environmental agency, predicted a bit of both: some would wash up, and some would stick to sediment and mud and sink slowly to the bottom, much of it likely settling near the spewing well.

"That's the fate of a lot of oil spills: sedimentation on the bottom," Fingas said.

Overton disagreed, saying the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill is too light to sink all the way.

A common refrain among experts and officials is that every oil spill is unique.

...snip...

In 1979, Mexico's Ixtoc I in the western Gulf blew out and spewed about 420,000 gallons of oil a day for nine months. Large quantities of oil did not reach Texas beaches.

"This was a problem we ran into with Ixtoc, we never found the oil," McKinney said. "But I think even today if you dig down in some sandy beaches you can find a layer of Ixtoc oil."

Someone will have to something as it's possible that this gusher might last for years destroying the Gulf in the process. From the article:

Quote:

"We don't have any idea how to stop this," Simmons said of the Gulf leak. Some of the proposed strategies—such as temporarily plugging the leaking pipe with a jet of golf balls and other material—are a "joke," he added.

Since Pozzi has an engineering solution that worked before, maybe he or someone should at least talk to him?

Everyone’s got an opinion but it’s difficult for me to believe that BP does not want this spill contained and fixed ASAP. It’s costing them big time in cleanup, environmental damage, lawsuits and is a total PR disaster. I am dubious as to the value of armchair quarterbacking especially since I know of no one who is an expert in this particular sort of dilemma.

But if the leak can never be stopped as posited in the National Geographic article it’s not possible to grasp the concept of how absolutely catastrophic that will be. We all hope BP does the right thing and figures this out as quickly as possible. I am absolutely positive they want the leak capped as soon, and as much, as anyone on the planet.

_________________________
The past is always tense, the future perfect.

We now have underwater oil plumes. The largest found, so far, is ten miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick AND apparently eating all the oxygen in the water. OH, it also seems that BP didn't even do the minimum BOP tests but choose to fudge even those. It just gets better and better.

I would suggest that anybody really interested goto http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/293463-1 and watch these guys lie, obsfucate and generally try not to answer any question. If you think that our politicians are bad...... (these guys are WORSE! and in theory, own the half of congress not already owned by the financials)